{"id":7160,"date":"2026-04-18T01:05:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T01:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=7160"},"modified":"2026-04-18T01:05:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T01:05:25","slug":"man-utd-and-chelsea-warned-against-signing-82m-former-premier-league-star-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=7160","title":{"rendered":"Man Utd and Chelsea warned against signing \u00a382m former Premier League star | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\"Chelsea\t<\/div>
Chelsea and Manchester United are ready to spend again (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chelsea and Manchester United have been warned that pursuing a deal for Julian Alvarez will not help them in their bid to catch Premier League rivals Arsenal.<\/p>\n

Alvarez has spent the last two seasons at Atletico Madrid after joining from Manchester City for \u00a382million, but has been strongly linked with a return to England ahead of the summer transfer window.<\/p>\n

Arsenal and Chelsea have both been heavily linked with moves for Alvarez, who won the league twice with City, while reports in Spain suggest that United are also keen on the Argentine.<\/p>\n

Despite a relatively goal-shy year in Diego Simeone\u2019s side, it is said that Atletico will demand in excess of \u20ac100million (\u00a386m) for any club looking to prise Alvarez away from the Spanish capital.<\/p>\n

However, former Premier League midfielder Andy Townsend is not convinced that spending that kind of money on the 26-year-old is the kind of signing that will help Chelsea and United close the gap on the current league leaders.<\/p>\n

\u2018I like Julian Alvarez and I know he\u2019s scored goals at Atletico Madrid but I\u2019ve never quite seen him as someone who would make the difference for anybody else at the top of the Premier League to really kick on and go and grab the league out of Arsenal\u2019s hands,\u2019 he told Boyle Sports.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018He\u2019s clearly a clever footballer. He\u2019s a good finisher. He had that brilliant knack for coming on and making the difference for City. <\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Atletico\t<\/div>
Julian Alvarez has been linked with a return to England (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018But I don\u2019t know if he\u2019s got enough to come in and play as the starting striker in the Premier League and be the difference for some of those teams trying to close the door on Arsenal. I don\u2019t quite see that.\u2019<\/p>\n

However, Townsend did concede that a lack of world-class strikers in the market may force clubs to pay over the odds for a player like Alvarez rather than take a risk on developing a younger attacker.<\/p>\n

\u2018So many people are always looking for that individual. Who\u2019s going to come in and do what Harry Kane has done at Bayern Munich or what Erling Haaland does for City?\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Manchester\t<\/div>
Manchester United have reportedly entered the race to sign Alvarez despite signing Benjamin Sesko last summer (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018There aren\u2019t many out there, you know. Go back to my era and we could have had an hour on the best strikers in world football but they\u2019re just not out there now because very few players can play the way Haaland does where he doesn\u2019t get so involved in the general play. <\/p>\n

\u2018Very few can play like that, not be involved and still get those devastating numbers that he does. Serie A used to always have a glut of top class strikers but they\u2019re not there anymore in Italy. <\/p>\n

\u2018Kylian Mbappe is spoken for but I still question when we are going to see him at his best in a Real Madrid shirt because I don\u2019t think he\u2019s been anywhere near his top level for them yet, even with the numbers he\u2019s got. He\u2019s still probably the ultimate number nine of the modern game.<\/p>\n

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Would Alvarez be a good signing?<\/h3>\n